Steal My Heart
by kawaii-kirei
Summary: Tyson's a famous thief who is known to steal valuable gems. Kai's a duke who always looks forward to Tyson's next appearance. Now, Tyson wants to steal something more precious than all the jewels: Kai Hiwatari's heart. [TyKa, yaoi]
1. Chapter 1

**Steal My Heart  
- chapter 1 -**

Kai Hiwatari has never been the social type. Nor the party type. Truth is, he hates parties, and loathes socializing. But that has never stopped his grandfather from bringing him along in these idiotic gatherings, telling him to go about and mingle along. Well, he didn't want to _mingle_, but alas, he can't even get the pleasure of just sitting alone in a corner drinking cocktail, shutting out the rest of the world, because every time, _every single time_, girls in gowns too long just always take the vacant seats around him carelessly and begin their _techniques_ to get into his pants. What annoyed him the most was that his glares didn't seem to have any affect on them anymore.

He vaguely remembered a friend of his, Rei Kon, teasing him about getting old already. Well, maybe he **was **getting old. If you count being twenty-five old, then Kai supposed he should be worrying already.

He snorted as he held that thought, absently swatting away a girl's hand from his thigh. He looked up at the moon, before staring at the sky that was abundant with stars. Then, he saw his grandfather in the middle of the garden, dancing along with some woman Kai did not and do not care to know, and wondered what he should be worried about. At his young age, he was known as Duke Kai Hiwatari, he was the grandson of probably the most richest and the most powerful man in Japan, and he had everything money could ever ask for. What was there to be worried about?

Kai tightened his lips, before taking another sip from his glass. A lot. There was a lot to be worried about. For starters, rabid girls who wanted to get into his pants. He sighed in relief as the girl beside him huffed and stood up, probably finally after a painful half an hour (for Kai, that is), she got the hint that Kai did not want to speak, let alone look at her. _This is so boring. _He rubbed his eyes for sleep, remembering that it was impolite to yawn.

He looked around, happy that the party was at least held in the gardens, not inside a ballroom. Ballrooms always made him feel suffocated. Gardens were more peaceful for him, and the night wind always made him able to ignore those people around him for at least a while. He craned his neck slightly to the right, looking at the buffet table and wondered if he should eat just for the heck of it. After all, it didn't do good for his image if he just sat there drinking cocktail for the whole night, right? Then, not feeling not hungry enough, he decided against it and looked at the left, where the door to the mansion of the host was.

He then felt something inside his head click, and he realized that the woman his grandfather was dancing with **is** the host. Well, Kai could at least compliment her for having such a beautiful garden. And, he added as he looked at the middle of the garden near his grandfather, for having such a beautiful statue. It was a statue of a phoenix, made of crystal. He gazed at the wonderful detail and the whole beauty of it, then at the ruby at the center of the statue, so that the statue emitted a red light to make it look like it was a red phoenix. His lips twitched up the slightest bit, before he tore his eyes away and took another sip of his cocktail.

He looked up at the sky yet again, the stars his only retreat from all of sappy music. He gazed at a particular star, shining more brightly than the rest, but all of a sudden, it disappeared. He squinted his eyes, and waited, until he saw that a small shadow had blocked his view. Then, it came closer and closer... until someone screamed.

"IT'S HIM!"

Who?

Kai leaned back in his chair, not caring at the people running about, screaming fear and death, as he sipped his cocktail, his eyes never leaving the shadow, as it swung with a string attached to whoever-knows-where.

The shadow let go of the string, and landed in the center of the garden, a grin plastered in his face. He bowed to Voltaire, and bowed again to the host, taking her hand and kissing it softly, "I apologize, Madam, if I'm late." He then grinned wider as he gave her a wink, and she fainted almost immediately in the arms of Voltaire. He then turned, his black cape flowing behind him, and his black leather boots thudding softly on the pavement. He wore a formal, white, button-up shirt with a black vest on top, and black pants. His face did have a mask, except the black mask merely went around his eyes, leaving the rest of his face completely exposed. He wore a black hat as well, but Kai saw that he had navy-blue hair. Then, the _shadow _took hold of his string yet again, and pulling some wires, the string became three with hooks at each end. Nearing the crystal statue, he attached the hooks to different parts of the phoenix, then making a hand gesture, the strings began rising up.

To where the strings were attached, Kai still couldn't figure out. All he knew was that the host had too many high trees, that the strings disappeared behind them.

The whole place was chaos, people were running around screaming, ladies were holding their dresses up and tripping over their gowns, and men were running out of the garden and into the mansion with just the will to live in their heads, yet no one moved to help. Kai shrugged, and smirked behind his glass. He was still sitting in his seat, not having moved a muscle ever since the shadow came, relaxed and amused. His eyes followed the shadow everywhere, until the shadow turned and their eyes met.

Ruby red met navy-blue.

And then, the shadow winked, and Kai had a moment to look surprised, before the shadow turned away, jumping up to hold onto one of the strings, and - along with the statue - disappeared behind the trees, a piece of paper flowing behind him, only to land near Kai's feet.

Drinking the last of his cocktail, Kai stood up, and picked the piece of paper, an eyebrow raising at the message.

_Lovely Mrs. Feruvie,  
I humbly apologize for sabotaging your party, and am wholeheartedly thankful that you have decided to give me this crystal phoenix as a gift.  
I gratefully accept. We shall meet again, Mrs. Feruvie.   
Toodles!_

At the bottom of the paper was a winking smiley and a kiss mark. Kai made a face, _He wears lipstick, eh? _Interesting message. After stealing the statue, this guy even has the nerves to say that it was a gift. What a jackass.

Yet, Kai noted with a smile, for the first time ever, he was actually glad that he went to this party.


	2. chapter 2

**KK: **Thank you for all the reviews! Truth was, I don't think that many will review because the whole thief thing was a bit cliché, and since we're talking about cliché-ness, it is the reason why Kai is a Duke not a detective in this story :3 And please bare in mind that my inspiration for this is the manga Gorgeous Carat - that I have never read but want to read, but... oh well. And now, after writing this chapter, I've started thinking of Ijyuin from Clamp School Detectives. -faints-

For _Devil Subaru Chan, _I've heard of Lupin III before and, I think, watched a few episodes, but I never really did know the real story. :3;; And yeah, I think a lot were surprised with the lipstick thing, but I hope this chapter clears things up. And ahem, to answer your question, Kai will be the dominant one. XD

I apologize if my descriptions are a bit blurry, and... yeah... so please tell me if you understood the vehicles thing and the news report. The news report was the hardest thing I have ever wrote in my life. X3 I hope it's real enough. wahahaha... And I have never used the word **party** so much before. -ish dead- Thank you again!

* * *

**Disclaimer: **BeyBlade and all of it's character does not and never will belong to me, as BeyBlade belongs to Aoki Takao. And I also can't say that the basic plot belongs to me, since it's a rather famous storyline, so... but SMH does belong to me.

* * *

**Steal My Heart  
- chapter 2 -**

"So?" The shadow entered the room, eyes squinting at the sudden bright light. He took off his hat and mask, discarding them carelessly to the side as he plopped down to the nearest couch with a smile, "How did it go?"

The room was mostly white, the walls were white, the floor and the ceiling was white, the doors were white, even the couch was white. The only objects found inside the room was a couch at one side with the wall in front of it covered with computers, computers and computers. In front of those array of gadgets, sat a boy, with light brown hair and large spectacles. Beside him, was a grinning blonde who gave the _shadow_ a thumbs-up.

"Amazing, Ty! Absolutely amazing!" Max laughed, walking across the room and patting his friend across the back.

Tyson laughed with him, that grin of his never leaving his face. "Isn't it? Oh, man! I loved that woman's face when I took her hand! What was her name again? Fruve something, or whatever. But who cares, hell, the look on her face was priceless!"

"As much as I would love to celebrate with you guys," Kenny adjusted his glasses, motioning to one screen at his side, where the whole scene of the 'phoenix crystal' played, it showed Duke Kai Hiwatari following Tyson's every move. It lasted until the time that Tyson winked at him, before Kenny stopped the video. "I think you took more than enough time with Duke Hiwatari."

"Well," Tyson shrugged, "He loved the show, didn't he?" He grinned, a red hue spreading over his cheeks at that.

"Come on, Ty." Max teased, feeling playful as he poked his best friend on the ribs. "Don't tell me you're still not over with your little Kai crush?"

Tyson looked absolutely flabbergasted. "What -- well, no! I mean, yes! I mean, no! Well, what I meant was, I have never had a crush on Duke Kai Hiwatari. Having such a schoolgirl infatuation is so immature, and I, Tyson Granger, am not immature, therefore I conclude that I, Tyson Granger, does not, has never had and never will have a crush on Duke Kai Hiwatari." After that, Max and Kenny just simply looked at him as if he had grown a second head, shook their heads with sighs, and went on with their lives.

"Whatever you say, Tyson."

* * *

Kai sat in his chair, staring with a bored expression at the television in front of him, wondering why the hell he was watching the news. He craned his neck the side, and took sight of the remote lying on the floor a few meters away. He thought about picking it up, but decided against it, too lazy to even raise an arm. He simply retorted back to staring blankly at the television screen, not really understanding what the reporter was trying to say.

Then, he finished, and another news flash disappeared. This time, Kai listened with full attention.

On the television, was a perfectly captured video of how the phoenix crystal was stolen just last night. Ruby-red eyes flickered to the image of the black-clad thief, watching as how he hooked the hooks on the statue. The reporter on the television, a girl with elbow-length black hair and dark purple eyes probably in her early twenties, looked familiar to him, but he shrugged it off, too focused on the thief to actually pay attention to anything. He watched as the thief looked directly to the camera and winked, and Kai realized that the direction of where the camera was, was also the direction where he sat at the party. Last night, he didn't see any cameras though. He scowled, feeling irritated that there was actually a camera near him the whole time and he didn't know it.

And it hit him. Last night, when the thief winked. Did he wink at Kai or at the camera?

As the video stopped on the television, and the reporter ended her report, Kai sank back in his chair, pondering on that question. But what confused him more was that why would he care if the thief didn't wink at him? Why did it bother him so much?

* * *

Tyson left the room with Max, leaving Kenny to take care of his next **mission**. The next room that they entered was a huge one, probably could be mistaken for a warehouse if it hadn't been built underground. It was simple, with thin metal walls, and numerous fluorescent lights on the ceiling, as they were no windows. The room was simply a rectangle. In the middle of the room, were different types of vehicles, each with their own special features.

At the far side of the room was the vehicle that they used yesterday, with the strings and the hooks. It looked like a normal garbage truck, where at the compartment was the long, thick metal rod where the strings from yesterday was attached. Covering the rod were garbage bags, stuffed with different sizes of metals just to have the bags full. In a normal garbage truck, the roof of the compartment wasn't lifted up, but the compartment of this specific vehicle could, for the rod to be able to easily lifted when needed.

Max called, nearing the vehicle, and grabbing a screwdriver on the floor in the process. "Is the GT okay?" The original name for the vehicle was only _garbage truck_, for they were all too lazy to think up of flashy names, and since it was too long, they used acronyms, as well as for the other vehicles in the room, like **GT **for **garbage truck**.

A voice called back, muffled and irritated. "Obviously not. I don't know what you did, but this is some abuse GT took."

"Hey!" Tyson huffed, pouting with crossed arms. "We did nothing!"

"Then why, pray tell," The voice called back again, "am I still under this humongous truck after hours and hours of working on it?"

Tyson blinked before scratching his head with a nervous laugh. "Because... you work slow?"

That earned him an annoyed, shrill, and high-pitched scream. Tyson shrugged in Max's direction, who just grinned amusedly back in return.

"Come on, stop complaining." Max laughed, nearing the vehicle, and kneeling to look under the truck. "I'll take over for now."

"No way." The voice huffed, "I started this and I will finish it. Okay? Okay. Now shoo."

Max shrugged, before standing up again and gesturing to the desk nearby. Tyson neared the desk, grabbing four piece of papers that was neatly piled up, sized like a ordinary calling cards. On the papers were different notes with different recipients, but all of them have the same signature, the same winking smiley, and the same kiss mark.

The navy-blue haired boy raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms, "Don't tell me Chief already has missions lined up for me."

"Okay..." Max replied slowly, "I won't tell you."

Just then, the voice called out again, "Tyson, I demand a week off."

The reply was immediate. "No."

"What? Why? I'm out of lipstick because of you!"

"So? It's only three papers."

"And **I'm** the one kissing the freaking inanimate objects. It should be **your** lips there, not mine. You **are** the famous Dragoon."

"Oh, don't worry. I pay you enough, don't I?" Tyson grinned, leaving the papers back on the desk and hauling Max away from the room. Another annoyed, shrill, and high-pitched scream resounded in the room, but the two boys were already out.

* * *

It was two days already, ever since the phoenix statue incident happened. Again, Kai was just sitting in his chair, staring blankly at the television screen, watching the news yet again. The weather forecast ended, and again, another news flash appeared. It was the same reporter as yesterday, a girl with black hair and purple eyes, delivering the report, and as she tightened her hold on the mic, she spoke,

_'Ever since the appearance of Dragoon two nights ago in Madame Feruvie's party to steal the renowned Red Phoenix Crystal, owners of the remaining Crystal's are tightening their defenses. Owner of the Black Turtle Crystal, Monsieur Leon LeFleur, have been adding new features for defense, while owner of the White Tiger Crystal, Master Rei Kon, have been multiplying his security.'_

Kai snorted at that.

_'But the owner of the Blue Dragon Crystal, Master Tyson Granger, says that no thief will scare him. Well, let's hope for the best, Master Tyson!'_

A picture of Tyson Granger appeared on the screen, wearing a tuxedo with a big grin, and Kai stared at the navy-blue hair and the navy-blue eyes for a long time, before he shook his head and decided that it was just a coincidence.

_'For those who still does not know of the thief Dragoon, the Phoenix Crystal is not the first thing he has stolen. Various gems and precious heirlooms have been reported missing, and in the end, everything has been linked to him. Witnesses report that he wears all black, with a mask, a hat and a cape. Another thing is that at every scene, he leaves a gracious note. Also, while rethinking about the incidents, police investigators have stated that Dragoon only steals whenever there is a party held at the victim's place. Recently, Dragoon has been sporting a new trend. Past victims have reported that they first received messages from Dragoon himself **before** the real crime, that at the night of their parties, he will come and steal. The hosts did strengthen security at party night, but Dragoon **still **managed to go past all of that. Police have been trying to catch the thief, but have been frustratingly failing. When will this Dragoon madness stop?'_

Kai rolled his eyes at the cheesy sentence.

_'The latest appearance of Dragoon was at Madame Feruvie's party, and Madame Feruvie admitted that she did not believe the warning that was sent to her before the party, and thus did not tighten house security. That resulted in the easy robbery of the Red Phoenix Crystal. And here's an interesting fact: just a few hours ago, we received a call from Monsieur Leon LeFleur, saying that he received a note from Dragoon, saying that he will appear in the monsieur's party at the twenty-seventh. We'll be covering the after-party, so please stay tuned. Now, back to you, Chris."_

Kai thought of the thief, and if he was watching television right now, and wondered also if police would be waiting at the venue of the party. If he held his own party, he was sure that he wouldn't let police go in disguise and party with him. Then, he focused his mind on something else; he thought if maybe he would be able to attend the gathering held by Leon. After all, he did meet the monsieur once, and Kai was sure that he had stroked the fancy of the man.

"Kai."

The duke heaved himself out of his chair, and faced his grandfather, turning the television off in the process with the remote. Voltaire held out an arm, where an envelope was tightly clutched by his fingers. Kai took the envelope, but before he opened it, his grandfather left without a word, so he knew that whatever the envelope held, he wasn't getting out of it. With a sigh, he tore the envelope and took out the letter, eyes scanning each letter, each word silently but surely, and with each paragraph, he found himself smirking more and more.

_Well... _He thought, stuffing the letter back in the envelope. _I'm going to the party after all._


	3. chapter 3

**KK: **I seriously apologize if this chapter seems rushed, because I actually wrote this in 5 in the morning, so please forgive. I also hope it's not confusing. X3 I'm a bit disappointed at this, really, but I still like it. I hope you guys will, too. Again, thank you for the reviews of the last chapter!

* * *

**Disclaimer: **BeyBlade and all of it's character does not and never will belong to me, as BeyBlade belongs to Aoki Takao. And I also can't say that the basic plot belongs to me, since it's a rather famous storyline, so... but SMH does belong to me.

* * *

**Steal My Heart  
- chapter 3 -**

It was the night before Leon's party, and Kai sat in the same chair in his mansion, in front of the same television. On the screen was the same reporter again, a girl with black hair and purple eyes, holding the microphone as she stood in front of a wrecked ballroom, with the windows shattered and the floor cracked. A chandelier was broken on the floor in the middle of the room, and on cold tiles were littered shards of glass and drops of blood.

_'And here we have Riku Azuki to cover about what people call the "Gucceli Heirloom Tragedy". Take it away, Riku."_

_'Thank you, Chris. I'm here now in Duchess Serena Gucceli's mansion. What you're seeing now, folks, is a work of the thief Dragoon, who is yet to be captured and is still on the run. As you can see, it's a terrible scene that Dragoon left in his wake. Earlier this evening, approximately fifteen minutes before eight o'clock, Dragoon struck and forced himself through security. Don't be alarmed, folks, the blood there is not from Duchess Serena. It was actually from the thief, who almost got crushed under the heavy weight and the sharp gems of that chandelier over in the middle of the room. According to a maid who was one of the witnesses, the chandelier has always been loose and was due for repair, but only for the following week. But alas, even with the wounds, the thief got away with stealing the precious necklace of the Gucceli family. Here we have Duchess Serena Gucceli to tell us about the necklace.'_

Kai blinked as the camera moved and the microphone was now transferred to another woman's hands, a woman in her early twenties with waist-length yellow-orange hair and dark blue eyes. He shrugged, not caring that the face was familiar to him. For him, anyone who was rich was familiar to him. He'd been to many parties in his life. Too many, in fact.

_'Thank you, Riku. The necklace was actually a precious heirloom passed down for generations in our family. It has lived through many years already, and has experienced many occasions, such as weddings, births, funerals. It makes me grieve so to know that it's been stolen, and I can only hope that my parents and my grandparents are somehow feeling fine, despite the turn of events. Please, Dragoon, or whoever you are, please return our necklace back.'_

She gave a small whimper and gave the microphone back to Riku, who merely hugged her sympathetically and patted her back, even as she continued her reporting.

_'You see, folks? Here's a tragedy that will happen again and again as long as Dragoon is still roaming our streets. If you're asking about what happened to the thief, Duchess Serena told us when we first came here that she saw only that he suffered a broken arm and had a deep gash at the side of his neck. But even so, he managed to escape with his crime. Police are frustrated more than ever, and so, we are asking for your help. If you have information, any information at all, please call us at the number on our screen. And --'_

Kai closed the television with his remote, and sighed. He didn't really sympathize with the Duchess, though. He was simply a bit worried that the thief got hurt. He smiled bitterly, wondering why the hell he was worried. Maybe he was becoming a Dragoon fan. Oh, the horror. He could just imagine his grandfather's expression if ever he told him that.

Besides, how lame becoming a Dragoon fan is, after all.

* * *

"What?" A voice screamed, the edges in its voice echoing through the room.

"Yeah." Max sighed, crossing his arms as he shifted impatiently from one foot to another. "Tyson got beat up pretty badly, and we... uh... kinda need you."

"Kinda need me? Kinda need me!" The voice huffed, rolling out from under GT. "Of course you need me! You guys won't be able to take of yourselves if the world depended on it." He came out, and finally met bright light, as he dusted himself off for grease and other bacteria. He wore a black suit that covered all of his body, even his head, so he took his time taking it off.

Max raised an eyebrow at his statement, and thought about retorting back. This person was just as childish as they were, and here he was, scolding them like he was their mom? He just shook his head in amusement and decided to stay silent. "Uhm... I suggest you hurry up. Tyson's gonna die from blood loss any moment now."

"Let him wait." The voice huffed, taking off his black suit to be able to move better. He started with the body suit, unzipping it hastily, and getting out of it, before throwing it to the side carelessly. He wore black, baggy pants and a white shirt, with a white jacket on top with blue rims. Max didn't even want to ask how the hell the person could wear a jacket even in a body suit. Then the person took the rest of the suit off his head, his elbow-length black hair falling down his back, but that was all to be seen. His face was covered with a plain, white mask with simple red markings at the _cheeks_ of the mask. "If he can't wait, then let him die. The world doesn't need impatient people."

Max whistled. "Looks like someone fell on the wrong side of the bed today. Hurry up, ID."

"Didn't I just tell you that the world doesn't need impatient people?" ID huffed. In truth, Tyson, Max and Kenny has never known ID's true name. Since when they first met him, he wouldn't tell him anything so they simply made up a name. ID stands for it's general meaning; identification. Since they couldn't _identify_ who he was, they simply called him ID. At the same time, they have never seen his face either. Hell, they didn't even know if he was male or female. His baggy clothes provided no proof, and his voice was muffled by the mask, so it wasn't high-pitched and it wasn't deep, so they never knew his gender.

If only he didn't have the mask on, Max was sure he would have raised an eyebrow. He followed ID out of the room quietly, not really worrying about Tyson's condition. Tyson has been through worse and he knew that the boy would live. He was too stubborn to die, anyway.

They left the room, and entered the computer room, but left that one as well. They entered an elevator, which simply lifted them one floor up. The door of the elevator opened, and the walked out, into the luxurious rooms of Tyson Granger's mansion. They walked up a spiral staircase then turned right, before they stopped in front of a small door. ID went in, and came out immediately, holding a white box, and they returned back to the top of the staircase, and this time, they went to the left side, and stopped in front of two large, oak doors.

Opening it without even bothering to knock, they were met with a grinning Tyson and a beyond-annoyed Kenny.

"Yo. Took you guys long enough." The navy-blue haired man chuckled, but winced immediately as he clutched his still bleeding neck.

"I'm amazed." ID shrugged, settling himself beside the bed, and opening the white box, before taking out two white gloves and putting them on. "You should be dead by now."

"Well, I'm not dead, am I?" Tyson raised an eyebrow, and shuddered as he saw the person take out a pair of surgical scissors. He knew he should have went to the hospital like a normal person. Well, he smirked, he wasn't exactly normal. Besides, going to a hospital meant doctors asking him questions and he was sure that doctors watch television, too, anyway. Especially news.

"You really overdid yourself this time, Ty." Max grinned, not at all phased at the fact that half of the pillow that his friend was lying on was covered in blood. "Why'd you have to steal that necklace, anyway?"

"Yeah." Kenny, on the other hand, was bent over a bucket, spewing the last of his dinner out. He spoke, but made sure that he had his back turned from the bloody mess. "The heirloom of the Gucceli family wasn't in the list I gave you."

"Okay, let me make this clear." Tyson cleared his throat, but ended up hurting himself in the process. He spoke slowly, his voice strained and tired, "That necklace does not belong to the Gucceli family. It actually --" He yowled painfully as he felt something piercing the skin on the side of his neck.

"Shut up." ID simply said as he took back the injection. "Anesthesia. Be grateful that I'm actually giving you a chance to experience painless surgery. Now shut up and go to sleep."

"How the hell can I sleep like this?" Tyson muttered under his breath sulkily, and simply glared at Max as said boy snickered behind his palms. Kenny merely continued to belch out his stomach.

* * *

Kai whistled lowly under his breath once he entered the grand ballroom, eyebrows raising at the red lasers acting like prison bars on the windows. As if the security guards by the front gate weren't bad enough. The room was pretty much gold-colored, with yellow lightings and gold, silk curtains for the windows. In the center of the room hanging from the ceiling was a huge chandelier, adorned with diamonds and ambers of different sizes, the facets of the jewels shining with the yellow light, making the room more gold. The floor was a peach color, slightly brown with smooth tiles, and the tables were covered with gold, silk tablecloths with another white tablecloth above them. In the middle of each table were various designs of flower arrangement, of course, with yellow and white flowers.

At two sides of the room were the buffet tables, and the center of the room was made empty for dancing. In the background played slow music, and Kai sat relaxed in his chair, drinking wine, watching the couples dance with the music. He wondered if Dragoon would be appearing today. Especially after the wounds he endured yesterday. Come to think of it, there were no crystal statues found in this room.

But other than that, it was all the same with Mrs. Feruvie's party.

He was just sitting there, drinking something bittersweet, while trying to ignore the girls that sat on the vacant seats around him. And at the dance floor was his grandfather, dancing with Mrs. Feruvie again, who was obviously invited as well. He scanned his eyes around the room, looking into each person's face and resisting the urge to roll his eyes as he realized that mostly all of the people here were exactly the same people back at the last party.

And the girl beside him, was exactly the same girl that made him suffer half an hour a few nights ago. He ignored her, hearing her voice, but not understanding what a word she was trying to say. He didn't listen to her, didn't even look at her, but there came a time that he had had enough of her high-pitched voice. Finishing the last of his wine, he stood up and walked away, not caring at all as she sputtered and cried as he left.

_Bathroom... bathroom... _He looked around, wondering if he should ask Leon, but decided against it. He left the ballroom and entered the hallway, not even stopping to marvel at it's luxury. He was rich enough, he supposed, that such expensive interior meant nothing to him anymore. He was surprised, really, to be feeling that way now when a decade and a half ago, he was pretty much penniless. He shook his head from those thoughts, remembering his promise to himself that he would forget everything about _those times_.

If he remembered correctly, the bathroom was just a corner away. He quickened his pace, intent on answering nature's call, when he stopped dead in his tracks in front of two large doors. He didn't know exactly what he was hearing, all he knew was that he was hearing **something**. And in an instant, he sensed he knew what... or _who_ it was.

So, heart painfully throbbing in his chest, he laid a hand on the door's handle and pulled.

"Dragoon?"


End file.
